Fontainebleau’s Danielle Sabathe had a chance to consider her options, and then she made a decision that helped the Bulldogs advance in the state soccer playoffs.

Sabathe blasted a shot from outside the top of the penalty box to the right side of the goal in the 32nd minute and the Bulldogs defense did the rest in Fontainebleau’s 1-0 victory against East Ascension in the Division I girls regional playoff match in Mandeville.

“I had options, to beat her (defender in front of Sabathe) to the goal or shoot,” Sabathe said.

It was a shot that helped propel No. 3 Fontainebleau to the quarterfinals to play the winner of the Dominican-St. Joseph’s match. Sabathe’s decision also carried a small element of surprise.

She explained that since Fontainebleau had failed to score despite taking numerous shots on goal, perhaps East Ascension would be expecting her to drive in and get a closer shot when she got the ball about 20 yards from the goal. Sabathe had other ideas.

“I felt shooting was the better option, it might catch them off guard,” she said.

The shot seemed to deflect off the head of the defender in front of Sabathe, and Sabathe said that may have “helped the shot dip down.”

There was no dip in Fontainebleau’s defensive performance, however. While the offense was creating many scoring opportunities, a total of 19 shots on goal, the Bulldogs’ defense was limiting the Spartans (18-11-1) to two shots on goal.

“The kept playing a lot of through balls and those can be difficult to defend, but we did a good job holding our line,” Fontainebleau defender Christina Pando said.

Fontainebleau’s defense helped it control the midfield and keep play isolated in front of East Ascension’s goal most of the first half and a good portion of the second half.

“Defensively, I was proud of the way we played tonight,” Fontainebleau Coach Carly Hotard said. “We had opportunities, but didn’t capitalize. They played hard against us and scouted us well.”

East Ascension was stout on defense, doing everything it could to slow Fontainebleau, but it also limited the Spartans’ chances offensively against a strong Fontainebleau defense.

“We knew we had to play heavy on defense, especially in the first 30 minutes,” East Ascension Coach Chris Goodall said. “We tried to get more offense later on, but it was tough.”